Track-sanding device.



No. 758,141. PATE'NTED APR. 26, 1904.v

w. H. KILBGURN.

y TRACK SANDING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILEU AUG. 13, 1903.

s x s` v UNITED STATES Patented April v26, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

WASHINGTON H. KILBOURN, OF GREENFIELD, MASSAOHUSETTYASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO ARCHIBALD D. FLOWER, OFA (SPREENFIELD, MASSA- OHUSETTS.

TRACK-SANDING DEVICE..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,141, dated April 26, 1904.

Application filed August 13, 1903.

To' @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WASHINGTON H. KIL- BOURN, of Greenfield, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Sanding Devices, of which the following is a specification# l This invention relates to that portion of a street-railway track-sanding device which conducts sand downwardly from a hopper or reservoir; and it has for its object to provide a conduit adapted to receive sand from an elevated reservoir and to deliver the sand,whether the same is wet or dry, at a'uniform rate and in any desired quantity.

Another object of the invention is to prevent the obstruction of the delivery of sand' by pebbles and other relatively large pieces in the sand.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

A Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure lrepresents a sectional view showing the portions of a track-sanding device to -which my invention appertains. Fig; 2 represents a view similar to Fig. l, showing a different adjustment. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Figs. Land 2, showing` another adjustment. Fig. 4 representsa section on line 4 4 of Fig. l.` Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

The same reference characters indicate Vthe same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, c represents a vertical conduit, having an inletY 4 at its upper portion and an outlet 5 at its lower portion, the conduit being enlarged between the inlet and outlet to form a chamber 6, which is horizontally lelongated in the direction of the movement of porter to hold a bank or accumulation of sand in position to obstruct the inlet and prevent the semina-169,365. (No man.)

.HOW of sand therethrough when the supporter is in a central position or about midway between the extremes of itsmOVement, as shown in Fig. 3. When, the supporter is in this position, the angle of repose of the accumulation of sand between the top of the chamber and the supporter is such that the sand does not extend to the ends of the supporter, as indicated by dotted lines .fc m in Fig. 3, said lines indicating :the angle of repose of the margin of a body Vof sand Whichfhas flowed through the inlet and has accumulated on the supporter. I nd in practice that good results areproduced by locating the upper 'surface of the supporter vabout half an inch below the under sideof the top of the chamber 6 and by forming the supporter so that when in its central position (shown in Fig. 3) the diagonal distance between each of its ends and the corresponding end of the inlet 4'will be longer than the surface m of the accumulation of sand. When, however, the supporter bears at one end against a stop adjusted to limit thelongitudinal movement of the supporter in such man- A lner as to prevent gravity-feed, the oppositeV end of the supporter is preferably about an v,inch and three-quarters from the corresponding Vend. of the inlet 4. y

I do not limit myself to thedimensions above specified, as these maybe varied as circumconduit c, an arm c', aliixed to the rock-shaft within the conduit and engaged at its upper end with the supporter, and `1 suitable ldevices for oscillating'the rock-shaft, said devicescom-` prising, preferably, a` pedale2 on the car-platform, arranged to be depressed by the 'foot of the motormama bell-'crank lever o3,piv*oted below the platform and having one arm in contact with the pedal c2, and a rod ci, connecting the other arm of the ybell-crank .'leverfci with j l an arm c5, aiiixed to the rock-shaft c. AspringI cG holds the supporterjb normally at o ne end of its movement against a stop d., When the treadle c2 is depressed, the rock-shaft and the arm c' are moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, the supporter ,7) being correspondingly moved in the same direction until its motion is arrested by a stop e. The supporter during this movement carries a part of the accumulation of sand along with it, and when the movement of the supporter is arrested a portion of this sand falls over the end of the supporter and passes through the outlet 5. When the treadle c2 is released, the spring o moves the supporter b in the opposite direction until it is arrested by the stop d. The stop d is preferably adjustable, so that it may be retracted, as shown in Fig. 2, until it permits the supporter to move endwise far enough to bring one of its ends within the angle of repose of the sand, thus allowing the sand to iiow continuously by gravitation over the end of the supporter, as indicated in Fig. 2. The rapidity of this gravity feed will depend on the adjustment of the stop d. When the stop d is adjusted inwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, the angle of repose of the sand will not extend over the end of the supporter. Hence endwise movement of the supporter, as above described, is necessary in order to effect a discharge of the sand. The stop e may also be adjustable to vary the extent of movement of the supporter toward the said stop. v

It will be seen that the supporter located below the inlet and separated therefrom by a vertical space,which permits sand to accumulate on the supporter below the inlet, not only enables the supporter to hold the accumulation .or clogging of the sand in the inlet in consequence of the dampness of the sand or presence of pebbles therein.

It will be observed that the conduit a is not a hopper or reservoir, but simply conducts sand from an elevated reservoir., which may be of any suitable shape and may be arranged at any suitableI point, the lower portion of said reservoir communicating with the inlet 4:.

If desired, the supporter b may be formed as a sieve composed of a marginal frame and a reticulated body portion or sheet of woven wire or other suitable material supported by the frame and covering the space surrounded by it. In this case the longitudinal movements of the supporter will cause the sand to pass through the meshes of the supporter; but when the supporter is standing still it will support the sand practically as it does in the solid construction here shown.

The conduit a may be secured to the floor of a car in any suitable way, and the top of the conduit may be fiush with the top of. the

guide lips or shoulders z' c', formed onopposite sides of the conduit and slightly overhanging the edges of the supporter. It will be seen, therefore, that the supporter is not pressed downwardly against a fixed support vby the weight of the sand resting on it and that the frictional resistance to the movements Yof the supporter is reduced to the minimum.

The stops at the ends of the path of movement of the supporter arranged to abruptly stop the movement and cause the jarring of the sand insure an effective delivery of sand either over the end of the supporter when the same is solid or imperforate or through the body of the supporter when the latter is formed as a sieve.

I claim- 1. A track-sanding device comprising a vertical conduit having a sand-inlet at its upper portion, a sand-outlet at its lower portion, and an enlargement or chamber between said inlet and outlet, a longitudinally movable sand-supporter located in said chamber and separated from the t'op of the chamber and from the said inlet by a space which permits the accumulation of a body of sand on the supporter below the inlet, and means for longitudinally reciprocating the supporter to discharge sand therefrom into the lower portion of the conduit, the supporter being formed and arranged to hold the accumulation of sand in position toclose the said inlet.

' 2. A track-sanding device comprising a vertical conduit having a sand-inlet at its upper portion, a sand-outlet at its lower portion, and an enlargement or chamber between said inlet and outlet, a longitudinallymovable sand-supporter located inv said chamber and separated from the top of the chamber and from said inlet by a space which permits the accumulation of a body of sand on the supporter below the inlet, said supporter being formed and arranged to hold the accumulation of sandin position to close the inlet, means for longitudinally reciprocating the supporter, said means having provisions for normally holding the supporter at one end of its movement, and an adjustable stop for varying the normal position of the supporter relatively to the inlet, whereby the supporter when in its normal position may either permit a continuous flow of sand by gravitation over one of its ends, or may entirely arrest the sand, and means for longitudinally reciprocating the supporter to cause the discharge of sand therefrom.

3. A track-sanding device comprising a vertical conduit having a sand-inlet at its upper portion, a sand-outlet at its lower portion, and an enlargement or chamber between said inlet and outlet, a longitudinally -movable sand-supporter located in said chamber and separated from the top of the chamber and from the said inlet by a space which per- IOO IIO

mits the accumulation of a bod;T of sand on the supporter below the inlet, a rock-shaft journaled in said conduit belovsT the supporter and having an upwardly-projecting arm enf gaged With the supporter, and means for oscillating said rock-shaft and arm to reciprocate the supporter and cause a discharge of sand having an upwardly-projecting 'arm loosely engaged with the supporter and sustaining the weight thereof, and a conduit inclosing the supporter and having overhanging guides arranged to prevent the supporter from tipping out of place on the arm.

G. A. track-sandingdevice comprising a vertical conduit having a sand-inlet at itsupper portion, and a sand-outlet at its lower portion, a longitudinally-movable sand-supporter 1ocated in said chamber between the inlet and outlet, means for longitudinally reciprocating the supporter, and stops at opposite ends of the supporter to arrest and jar the latter.

In testimony whereofl I have aiiixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WASHINGTON H. KILBOURN. Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, E. BATCHELDER. 

